Airwars assessment
Between 8 and 11 civilians died in what both the Syrian Network and Syrian Observatory called a ‘massacre’ – following alleged Coalition strikes on Bia’as.
According to Shaam News Network, “clashes [between ISIL and SDF] have moved into the centre of Tal Al Samin where international coalition aircraft, has launched dozens of air raids on positions controlled by IS. The raids resulted in the fall of eight martyrs in the village of Bi’as and many wounded among the civilian population.”
LCCSY placed the death toll at 11, while Raqqa is Being Slaughtered named eight civilian victims.
The Coalition announced on January 2nd 2017 that “Currently, five reports of civilian casualties received in November are still being assessed… Nov. 19, 2016, near Ar Raqqah, Syria.” An official later confirmed to Airwars that this related to allegations at Bia’as that day. The incident was still being assessed a month later, but on March 4th, the Coalition reported that “After a review of available information and/or strike video it was assessed that no Coalition strikes were conducted in this geographic area that correspond to the report of civilian casualties.”
The local time of the incident is unknown.
The victims were named as:
Summary
Sources (14) [ collapse]
Media
from sources (3) [ collapse]
-
Jassem al Ali al Shamma (via RBSS)
-
Widah Abdallah al Hassan (via RBSS)
-
Ali Al Hamad Al Hmeidawi (via RBSS)
Attached to this civilian harm incident is a provisional reconciliation of the Pentagon's declassified assessment of this civilian harm allegation, based on matching date and locational information.
The declassified documents were obtained by Azmat Khan and the New York Times through Freedom of Information requests and lawsuits filed since March 2017, and are included alongside the corresponding press release published by the Pentagon. Airwars is currently analysing the contents of each file, and will update our own assessments accordingly.
US-led Coalition Assessment:
Civilian casualty statements
-
The report contained insufficient information of the time, location and details to assess its credibility.
Original strike reports
For November 18th-19th, the Coalition reported “Near Ar Raqqah, two strikes engaged an ISIL storage facility and destroyed seven oil storage tanks and four oil transfer compressors. Near Ayn Isa, 13 strikes engaged 10 ISIL tactical units; destroyed five fighting positions, an IED facility, a VBIED, and an artillery system; and damaged a supply route.“